2015 Worlds of Roller Hockey: The Czech Republic Makes a Clean Sweep

The Ultimate Day

Brazil surprises Switzerland

In the morning, Chile won over Macau, getting the 13th place, an improvement after their first Worlds in 2012.
In the following game, Colombia, struggling after a good week start, comforted themselves with a clear win against Venezuela, 9-0 for the 11th place.
The 9th place, corresponding to the Trophy of the World Cup, was played between Brazil and Switzerland. Switzerland was thought to be a cut above, but the motivation and the game of the Brazilians until the very end paid off, and they defeated the Swiss 4 to 3. This team has been improving and gaining places in the world ranking for many years and might well enter the top seed one day.

The two promoted teams, Argentina and Mexico, offered a wonderful game to the crowd of spectators. The locals knew how to contain the comeback of Mexico and seized the 7th place, which will enable them to play in the top seed for the next Worlds.

Still in the classification games, Italy and Spain needed extra time to make the difference, and the victory went to the Italians, who were quite disappointing throughout those Worlds.

The American Wake-Up

After the games of the previous day, Latvia was the favorite for the bronze medal against the USA. But the forecast wasn’t taking into account the pride of the latter who burst through the Latvian defence. The 7-4 victory offers the bronze medal to the USA but still has a bitter taste, after their loss in semi-finals against the French on the previous day.

A wonderful final

Although the place wasn’t completely full, a good crowd of spectators had come to enjoy the show between France and the Czech Republic for the great final. And the spectators were not disappointed, a clash of a very high level unfolded before their eyes on the court of the Salvador Bonilla hall.

The two teams fought back and forth, without the goalies yielding. At the break the scores were still 0-0, which contributed to the building up of the suspense. France started the fight, through Karl Gabillet. Jakub Cik answered back a few moments later, leading both teams to play the extra time.The Czech Republic finally won after 3 minutes of extra time, in favour of a very contestable numerical superiority.

The Czech Republic seizes the 4 world titles (veterans, juniors, women, men) and places itself in front of the USA, as the key nation of Roller Hockey. France, with its two silver medals, resurfaces after many years of descent into hell. The change of coach and the input of Geoffroy Tijou were essential to recreate a group of warriors, ready to transcend themselves in those Worlds. They will have to keep it all in mind for next year, to finally get the gold, that has been slipping throughout France’s fingers for 20 years now.

Senior Men’s Final Ranking

1. Czech Republic
2. France
3. USA
4. Latvia
5. Italy
6. Spain
7. Argentina
8. Mexico
9. Brazil
10. Switzerland
11. Colombia
12. Venezuela
13. Macau
14. Chile

Useful Link

Our page on the 2015 Worlds of Roller Hockey

Photos of the 2015 Worlds of Roller Hockey in Argentina by Eddy Wegrzyn

By Sébastien Marpeau
Translation: Chloe Seyres
Photos : Eddy Wegrzyn